Updates May 20, 2020
New versions of all COVID-19 protocols were released. Here is a summary of the updates:

The COVID-19 Exposure protocol now only covers patients who have NO symptoms.

The COVID-19 Diagnosed or Suspected protocol now covers all patients who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and/or have tested positive.

Additional Symptoms: The list of symptoms prompting suspicion of COVID-19 has been expanded per new CDC guidelines.

Multiple Protocols: Triage questions and care advice have been expanded in an effort to reduce the need to refer to additional, symptom-specific protocols when triaging a patient with suspected COVID-19. However, the triage nurse should always use clinical judgment to decide whether a second symptom protocol (e.g., Chest Pain, Fever, Headache) should be used in addition to the COVID-19 Diagnosed or Suspected protocol. Adult patients in particular may have multiple factors that make assessment and triage more complex.

COVID-19 Testing: There was a major rewrite of these sections. Testing availability, products, and sites vary greatly based on your location. Please review the testing information in the protocols with your team to determine how your organization will discuss testing with patients.

Kawasaki Disease related to COVID-19 (Pediatrics): Background Information and a triage question were added in the COVID-19 Diagnosed or Suspected protocol to address this rare but serious concern.

Updates April 1, 2020
Office Hours versions of the new COVID-19 Diagnosed or Suspected protocol have been released along with major updates to the Office Hours versions of the COVID-19 Exposure protocol. Just like the After Hours versions released March 29th, these two protocols work together to offer broad triage support, whether you are in an area of high (major) community spread or an area of low (minor) community spread.

Updates March 29, 2020
After Hours versions of a new COVID-19 Diagnosed or Suspected protocol have been released along with major updates to the COVID-19 Exposure protocol. Together these two protocols work together to offer broad triage support, whether you are in an area of high (major) community spread or an area of low (minor) community spread. Office Hours versions of these updates will be released soon.

Updates March 12, 2020
The two pediatric protocols have been updated, both in ClearTriage and in the links below.

Updates March 10, 2020
The two adult protocols have been updated, both in ClearTriage and in the links below.

Original February 7, 2020 Article

With so much news about the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China, many healthcare facilities are already receiving calls from patients concerned about exposure or travel. We are pleased to announce that both the Office Hours and After Hours versions of ClearTriage now include Coronavirus Exposure telephone triage protocols to help your triage nurses field these calls.

Dr. Barton Schmitt and Dr. David Thompson and their teams have been monitoring the situation and working closely with the Centers for Disease Control to develop these protocols. As this is a new and rapidly changing situation, we recommend using these protocols in conjunction with your nursing experience and having reviewed the most current information on the CDC website.

We anticipate that the Schmitt-Thompson protocol authors will be releasing periodic and possibly rapid updates to these protocols. Following our commitment to provide the best possible triage experience to our customers, we made these protocols available in ClearTriage within 24 hours of their release and will continue to provide updates in a timely manner as they become available.

ClearTriage is a web-based decision support tool for telephone triage nurses and the leading provider of the Schmitt-Thompson telephone triage protocols. Contact us to learn more or start your 30-day free trial today.

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Pete Allen is Chief Technology Officer, Co-Founder, and resident geek at ClearTriage. Pete is responsible for software development and information technology and is dedicated to improving the experience of our customers. You can reach him through the Contact Us link at the bottom of this page.